PARLIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 249, 20 October 1922, Page 4

PARLIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

I"! NOTES FROM THE QAUUEKT. * I (By Telegraph—Parliamentary Reporter.) fcj WELLINGTON, Thursday. 1 1 FREEHOLDING LEASES. * j Jliie Minister of Public Works told Mr. n I Jennings to-day that hie department } j was now quite ready to facilitate the I granting of freehold of native leases in Xc Kuiti, Tauinarunui, and Kopaki. It 8 1 was just a question of the purchase s ; boards having the natives' consent. i i Mr. Jennings: I understand that the *' Maoris are agreeable in most cases. : ~i GLUT OF KAHRI GUM. ii Loaded up as it is with £60,000 worth i■ oi "inn. and with a poor market, the a j Liovcrnuieni Gum Purchasing DepartB! mem in Auckland is doing little busi--iuess on behalf or" tlie Houhora diggere. i. ! -Mi. Ycrnon Kee<l appealed io the Miniso| ter to make available a sum sufficient to - ! buy ilip winnings of these men, who are '. »p against, it. c Mr. Gutflirie that although the *! purchases had been curtailed they had tinoL stopped. The department had, he i admitted, practically come to the end . ! of its tether, but was eking out its . fund* to avoid casee of hardsfhip among ~ the diggers, ij AMPLE FOWL FOOP. * There have been such reductions in the price of bread and flour that decrease 1 in the price of pollard and other fowl 1 foods could hardly be expected, tflie .'Minister of Agriculture, informed Mr. ;! < lu.ua Mackenzie. He added that there j I were ample stocks ot fowl food. - j POKIRUA CROSSING ACCIDENT, j "I could not conceive any crossing more dangerous than that at Porirua," I : stated Mr. W. H. Field, in urging the ' j Minister of Railways to provide ade"l quate signal apparatus at the seen , ? of t. the tragedy whiofh occurred yesterday. ■-; The crossing, gaid Mr. Field, was '- obscured b} , houses, iind with a train x travelling at the pace of the Main Trunk f any vehicle whiah had reached the Lne 3 j had little chance of escape. The Minisj ter of Railways, Mr. Guthrie, assured * the House that he had had this crossing c under consideration for some time, and j it was one of those crossings where the I installation of the wig-wag signalling , apparatus (the latest) would ba .: made. ENGINEERING OVERSIGHT. 1 The Local Bills Committee has subs'j mitted a special report to the House r, stating that in view of the conflicting | a'evidence constantly submitted to them -•■ as to the utility end value of the prot| posed schemes, especially those for harbours, that the Government be strongly .! recommended to appoint an engineering j i expert to report on all scheme* involv- , ing the expenditure of more than ! £10,000. s INSPECTION OF MINES, i The Mining Amendment Bill, which ■ was reported to the House to-day by , the Uoldfieids and Mines Committee, 4 has had clause 3 deleted. This clause f proposed to require a daily inspection .■ of all working placed in a mine, but as ( ; there was not sufficient time to afford jail the companies concerned an oppor- ,' tunity o f giving evidence before the 1 committee, it was decided to drop the * clause in the meantime. I A now clause authorises prospecting , within 'State forests and the issue ot , licences for claims, etc., thug bringing , these areas, where desired, under mining \ conditions. Another new clause affecti ing the Otago raining district gives the ! warden power to ieeue licensee -within ' ; that district for ordinary alluvial, extended alluvial, and hydraulic elevating j claims, subject to the consent of the . Minister. I Hitherto no fee was charged for the ; 'Minister's consent to the extension ot ; : protection to mining privileges, but ' J under the bill a fee to 'be prescribed by regulation is to be charged in future to \ recoup the. department in obtaining special reports. There are certain area* ' of land which have been set aside for ' the use of landless natives and over ( which it had not 'been possible to obtain ' j mining privileges. Some of thie land I has not been put to any other use, and ' the bill proposes to give power to grant ' mining privileges. The Governor-Gen-eral is also given power to prescribe conditions of the construction and con- 1 trol of tramways used in connection < with mining. < ORIMBS AOT AMENDMENT. ' J When the House was in Committee on ■ the Crimes Amendment Bill to-night, an i amendment was agreed to permitting ; young men under 21 years of age to set ' iup the defenen that they had reasonable i grounds for believing the <*ir] wae over i 16. J Mr. T. M. Wilford, Leader of the ■ Opposition, moved to strike out the sufo- | section of clause 2, extending the period I during which a charge might be laid '. j from six months to nine months. He ; I urged that the extension was only play- ; ing into the hands of blackmailers. j The Hon. ,T. A. Hanan (Invercargill) j urged that the extension should not be i made unless the magistrates asked for it. After lengthy discussion Mr. Wilford withdrew his amendment, and the clause ! remained unaltered. The remainder of tiio clauses were , asrreed to. and tho hi!! wa« read a third , time and pas-scd.